U.S. Pat. No. 5,000,232 describes a banding tool for tightening and receiving a band about a termination sleeve, i.e., about a woven metal braid portion of an electrical cable about a tubular termination sleeve portion of an electrical connector. The purpose of the tool is to provide a means for establishing band tension sufficient to provide a good electrical connection between the braid portion and the termination sleeve without having the tension so high that the sleeve can be damaged. The tool described in the aforementioned patent comprises a band tension limit which can be adjusted while the tool is coupled to a test device, such as a strain gauge. The manual banding tool includes a shuttle mechanism for incrementally advancing the band through the tool during a forward stroke. The shuttle mechanism is mechanically coupled to a pivotally mounted handle by way of an overcenter toggle mechanism. The shuttle mechanism includes a tensioning pawl assembly for gripping the band during a forward stroke. A retaining pawl assembly is mounted adjacent the feed track of the band and holds the tension in the band while the shuttle mechanism is in its return stroke. The overcenter toggle mechanism is coupled to a spring tensioning assembly, which includes a plurality of spring members, such as Belleville washers, disposed near the rear of the tool. An adjustment screw on the rear cover portion of the tool allows the spring tension of the spring members to be adjusted. Once the band tension limit is reached, the spring members collapse allowing the overcenter toggle mechanism to lock the handle in its closed position, thereby preventing further movement of the shuttle mechanism. The termination may then be bent by hand such that the band is at approximately a 90.degree. angle with respect to the buckle to maintain the tension in the band. A handle operated shear is then operated to allow the termination to be removed from the tool. The outwardly extending tail portion of the band is subsequently placed adjacent the rollover assembly to allow the tail portion to be fully bent over the buckle.
In the operation of the above described banding tool, it is necessary to rotate the tool, when tension has reached a point at which the overcenter mechanism has latched, in order to bend the end of the band about a sleeve to prevent its release when the band is cut. This action necessitates a generally uncomfortable motion of an operator's arm and wrist. Thus, it would be desirable to provide a means for bending or crimping the end of a band without having to rotate the tool about the termination sleeve.
Another drawback of the above described banding tool is that the design of the tensioning mechanism is such that band tension is not consistently pulled to within preselected limits. Thus, it is desirable to provide a banding tool which assures more consistency in setting band tension. In this respect, it is also desirable to provide a band gripping mechanism which affords better gripping of a band being placed in tension. Still further, it is desirable to provide a banding tool which incorporates a readily replaceable cutting blade for severing an end of a band once a desired tension has been reached.